CO Data

Fashion’s Polybag Addiction: Drowning In Plastic

Polybags are fashion's dirty little secret, with half a billion of them produced and thrown away each year.

Single-use plastic weighing the equivalent of 80,000 elephants is thrown away by the fashion industry each year in the form of polybags alone.

Most of these protective polybags are not recycled and end up in landfill. 

Whilst potentially more sustainable options are emerging, including recycled and recyclable, bio-plastics and compostable alternatives, these face practical challenges in both waste collection streams and access to suitable facilities for processing. 

This article summarises f…

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Author
Clare Lissaman

Head of Oxfam Advisory Services at Oxfam and 3 others